St. Paul’s surgeon gave girl her voice back

Cherie Baun went on to become Cherie Skarpinsky, married to husband Cory, and mother to Curtis (from left), Allison, Nikita and Erika.Submitted photo
/ For the Province

A young Cherie Baun in hospital in January 1987 after surgery on her throat.

Some people owe their lives to the work of St. Paul’s doctors. Cherie Skarpinsky owes the hospital something almost as precious to her — her voice.

Before her story made headlines, Skarpinsky (née Baun) was a carefree 14-year-old Saskatchewan native who had been with her sister visiting cousins in B.C.

On July 18, 1986, the pair were being driven to see a movie with friends near Burns Lake. The driver was speeding and they ran headlong into a truck. The accident killed her sister, their two cousins and a friend and left her with severe head injuries that put her into a six-day coma.

“It killed everyone but me,” she recalled. “I was in a coma and I had one and a half collapsed lungs and a severe head injury. They thought I would be a vegetable if I ever woke up.”

But she did regain consciousness and her faculties. Doctors performed a tracheotomy and inserted a tube down her throat to help her breathe after the accident. But once she came to, the distraught teen pulled it out in distress, causing damage and scarring and leaving her without the ability to speak. All she could do was hold a hand over the breathing tube in her throat and whisper. And even that was a challenge.

Looking for the best care, the family settled on St. Paul’s to perform delicate surgery that could restore their daughter’s voice.

St. Paul’s surgeon Dr. Don Anderson operated on Skarpinsky in early January 1987 to remove some of the scarring. Skarpinsky’s breathing tube was removed on her 15th birthday, Jan. 15.

Dr. Anderson recalls that his patient had developed tracheal stenosis, or abnormal narrowing, and scarring at a tricky spot where her trachea met her larynx. During the operation he removed the scarred section and sutured the area, a painstaking procedure in a difficult location.

But it worked. Days later, he recalls, he took out her breathing tube and asked her to speak.

The then-Grade 9 student was thrilled, if not used to the sound of her own voice.

“My voice was really gruff, really croaky. I had my mom and dad there — they were overjoyed. They were quite thrilled that it had worked. I had gone through so much.”

“It was a really good birthday,” she added.

Dr. Anderson, a University of B.C. clinical professor, now works in the surgery departments of both St. Paul’s and Vancouver General Hospital, specializing in otorhinolaryngology (ear, nose and throat care).

“She was a young girl who really had a terrible tracheal injury and was non-functional and it was really going to impact her life,” he said.

“She was a young girl with her whole life ahead of her, so it was quite satisfying to help her out and bring her back some normality,” he said. “I’m just happy she’s doing well.”

Today, the former St. Paul’s patient is a 40-year-old married mother of four children who runs a farm equipment cleaning business with her husband, Cory, on their rural property near Shellbrook, Sask.

She’s grateful to the surgeons and staff at St. Paul’s who enabled her to enjoy her teenage years by participating once again in sports she loved such as swimming, softball and volleyball.

“I had the best surgeon,” she said. “And the nurses at St. Paul’s were the best. I remember one of them even took me to Granville Island. I don’t think I could have got better care anywhere else. Thanks to St. Paul’s Hospital and to Dr. Anderson I have been able to enjoy an active, unrestricted lifestyle allowing me to experience many of my dreams,” she said. “I am very grateful.”

Skarpinsky added that she’s tried before to track down Dr. Anderson to send him a simple message: “Thank you for giving me back my voice.”

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